If Mark Twain were alive today,
he would be living like Ike Hastings. In the constant company of his parrot
and dog Inge, Ike spends his summers exploring the channels of the Mississippi
and its major tributaries aboard a remarkable vessel that is as steeped
in historic tradition as it is technologically advanced.

He
pilots the sternwheeler Lilly Belle (pictured here--CLICK
HERE to see enlargement), which he built himself in 1958--the twenty
third boat constructed by this now-retired high school art teacher. If
that weren't unusual enough, the Lilly Belle pushes an aircraft carrier
with deck space for the two-person float plane which Ike also built himself.

Ike's engineering abilities
are complemented by an on-going love of art--his excursions into the Mississippi
backwaters allow plenty of time for making water colors, woodcarving,
and creating pottery and jewelry. Once he was stranded on a sandbar near
St. Louis (pictured here) by a pulse in river levels resulting from the
combined effects of heavy rain and high levees. No matter--he stayed put
and painted while waiting for the water to rise again, using his plane
to get supplies and to rendezvous with his wife in Freeport Illinois.